Thursday, 16 October 2014

ECB 2013 Accounts: Draining Ever More Resources

Right, admittedly a bit late, but here's a quick summary of the costs of running the ECB based on the 2013 accounts published in April:

Total administrative expenses, including depreciation, amounted to €527.370 million. This was an increase of €63.490 million, or 13.69%, on 2012.

As of year end, the actual full-time equivalent number of staff holding employment contracts with the ECB was 1,790. This was an increase of 152 staff, or 9.28%, from 2012.

Staff costs increased from €222.374 million in 2012 to €240.524 million in 2013, an increase of €18.150 million, or 8.16%.

Mr Draghi's salary increased 1.01% during the year to €378,240 (this increase must be too close to deflation for Draghi's liking).

Capital & Reserves in percent of Total Assets increased from 3.69% in 2012 to 4.39% in 2013, Total Assets shrunk by 15.98% while Total Liabilities shred 16.59%.

Gold and gold receivables declined to €14.064 billion, down from €20.359 billion in 2012.

Tangible and intangible fixed assets increased to €971.176 million in 2013 from €638.475 million in 2012. The increase can mostly be attributed to "Assets under construction" related to the new magnificent ECB building which presumably is expected to cost around €1.4 billion, significantly higher than the initial €850 million estimate.

So, while many euro area member states are drowning in debt and high unemployment, the staff members over at the ECB and others connected to it are having a blast. Resources well spent, euro area members?